Written last Sunday.. posted today cause I’ve been too busy this week, sorry!

Wow, what a week it’s been! Steepest learning curve I’ve ever ridden! But as tired and exhausted as I’ve been I’m really looking forward to doing it all again (hopefully better) next week!

So I’ve settled in pretty well, and despite my 7-teas-a-day drinking habits I’ve gotten used to the fact that my adopted family have no kettle so I boil it in a pot the good old fashioned way! They also have no microwave so I have to make sure to drink it when it’s hot rather than letting it go cold and chucking it in the microwave several times like I used to! But those are minor inconveniences, here’s what’s really been happenin’…

Daily Routine:Wake up at 6:30 – When the kids wake up and start playing, screaming and on a good morning, sit quietly with eyes glued to the TV. Press the alarm button twice (9 mins each) and begrudgingly get up at precisely 6:48am and get ready in 12 minutes so I’m walking down the stairs for breakfast at exactly 7am.Have breakfast lazily while the boys stare in shock at me as if I’m a purple dragon that flew in for breakfast rather than their nanny that’s with them everyday. (I’m hoping the shock will wear off with time). Then there’s the struggle of bribing and threatening to get them dressed and teeth brushed before they can watch more TV or play a game. I prefer games, they prefer TV, guess who usually wins!? Having said that, when they do watch TV, it gives me time to clean up the kitchen and actually drink my tea while its still hot!Then when it’s finally 8am, which I’ve usually been counting down for the last 15 minutes, we get our shoes, jackets and bags on (with minimal bribing and threatening where possible) hop in the car and away we go!

During the day I get to relax a fair bit, the whole point of choosing a nanny job where I get the day free was to use the time to do some study for my medical entrance exam that’s in July but so far I’ve only done that one of the days. Most days I meet up with my equally-as-lazy friends, have a coffee and bask in the glory of being old enough to be out of school and young enough to not have any pressing responsibilities.

At some point during the 9-3 free period I vacuum the bread-loafs-worth of crumbs that somehow got under the kitchen table from breakfast, figure out what I’ll cook for dinner, and argue with myself about if I should a) do some study for the remaining half an hour, or b) have a nap. Again, guess which option usually wins?!

After my nap I grab my stuff and drive to kinder and then to school to pick up the two boys. My shock never wears off that I think they’ll surely be tired by the time I pick them up and instead find them full of beans and ready to take on the next activity with as much enthusiasm as the acorn-obsessed squirrel on ice age. After 30 mins stuck in traffic with the two in the back fighting over who’s turn it is to play a game on my phone I burst in the door with relief that I’ve gotten them safely home for another day.

Snack time can be a struggle but they’re getting used to the fact that their choices are fruit, biscuits or yogurt and under no circumstances will they weasel a chocolate bar out of me so there’s no point in trying! The youngest constantly complains that he’s still hungry but after a reasonable feeding I can usually divert his attention to a game, or to listening to his older brother read the 7 page book (with a total word count of 24) that he brought home from school that day.

FInally it’s shower-time which involves the oldest usually enthusiastically running upstairs while the youngest requires some gentle threats. Once in the shower though, it’s hard to get the youngest out as he folds the face-washer obsessive compulsively again and again until it’s just right to put over his eyes as I was the shampoo out of his hair. Around 5:30 I Iet them think that they’ve won the battle of begging to watch TV which actually is useful to keep them occupied while I cook dinner. Sometime during the next hour the parents get home and we all have a lovely dinner together followed by “a piece of fruit before chocolate, boys!”

FInally my last little job is to make Alex’s lunchbox which always starts with me getting excited about how I’m going to make it really creative and interesting this time and then resigning to the ease of just chucking in your average sandwhich, piece of fruit, carrot sticks and yogurt. Then I’m free to do whatever I please until bedtime… and repeat.